Small talk!

[xxblackxsatinxx.livejournal.com]

Привет!

So, here's my scenario. I have an oral interview/exam with my teacher tomorrow. One on one type of thing. One of the things we have to do is hold a conversation. So, I have a few questions that are relative to small talk in English that I'd like to know how to say in Russian. :)

How would you say...

"Are you enjoying the weather?" (Random, I know.. but it's getting colder, so it's relevant.)

"How is your family?"

"Are you excited for the holidays?" (Christmas, New Years, so forth..)

спасибо!

You have no idea how much this forum is a great help! You all are so nice and willing to help. It's encouraging for learners. I appreciate all your efforts very much.

Comments

[pinky-the-cow.livejournal.com]

Blasted encouragers. It's hard enough to mock people into dissuasion as it is. *sigh*

Anyways, to make things harder: there's a tremendous variety of options suitable depending on the relations between the talking persons.

Little formality:
— Как тебе погодка? ("How do you like the weather?", where words "нравится" и "такая" get omitted, being obvious)
— Да зашибись, блин. (~"It's effing terrific!")

Quite much more formal:
— По душе ли вам такая погода, как сейчас? ("Do you find the current sort of weather to your liking?")
— Нет. К сожалению, дожди зимой нагоняют на меня тоску. ("No. Sadly, winter rains bring about blue mood for me.")

Hence, it's possible to adjust things according to your assumed roles.
I'm not an experienced sweet-talker, so I find the questions (especially the one about the family. isn't it a prying one? :/) awkward.
Of course, if it's a teacher, you should be relatively safe with:
"Нравится ли вам погода в последнее время?"
"Как дела у вашей семьи?"
"Наверное, ждёте не дождётесь праздников?"

[xxblackxsatinxx.livejournal.com]

Ahh.. I guess it could be prying, but my teacher and I talk a lot about her daughters! I always walk with her after class, so we always have random conversations. Always in English though.. I'm not that fluent in Russian yet.

I was just looking for some conversation topics in case the conversation dies. Plus, she likes it when we go out on our own and learn new words and sayings.. she says it gives her a sense of pride knowing that people are interested in the language.

I guess I would to.. I mean, Russian isn't an easy language! I can see why people wouldn't approach it with a five foot stick! :p

Thanks! :)

[aromanov.livejournal.com]

1. "Как вам нравится погода"? If you want it to sound more ironic and you can say "Ну и как вам нравится погода?" Ну in this case adds some negative accent.
2. "Как поживает семья?", "Как дела у твоей семьи?", "Как твои родные?". Last one sounds better to me.
3. Not sure. Not common form for Russian.

[sofa-m.livejournal.com]

"Вашей семьи" and 'Ваши родные" - remember, this is a teacher the op's talking to

[aromanov.livejournal.com]

yep, sorry